The second person to arrive was Xu Tian.
As soon as he arrived, he unhesitatingly piled all the herbs he had worked so hard to gather in the secret realm in front of Nan Xunran.
His eyes shone brightly, full of anticipation. "For you!"
A puzzled expression appeared on Nan Xunran's face. "?"
Before he could reply,
Lin Hongyu arrived close behind.
He spotted the mountain of herbs piled on the ground at a glance and couldn't help exclaiming, "Whoa! What happened here? Did you go robbing people?! That's a lot of herbs!"
Pei Zimo laughed beside him. "Xu Tian picked them all. Impressive, right?"
Then he turned to Nan Xunran. "My lord, please accept them. Otherwise, I think Xu Tian's going to cry."
Nan Xunran turned to look, and sure enough, Xu Tian was already starting to pout.
Helpless, he could only wave his hand and put all the herbs into his storage bag.
Yan Lingxue and the others stood quietly to the side, their gazes resting on Nan Xunran. Watching his expression, they all thought to themselves, Young Master Xunran really is different when he's with his subordinates.
While they were talking, the remaining Dao Children appeared one after another.
Shangguan Xieyue came racing in like a whirlwind, kicking up clouds of dust and sand.
Yet just as she was about to reach Nan Xunran, she abruptly stopped, controlling her movements with precision so that none of the dust and sand she had stirred up landed on him.
Her breathtakingly beautiful face wore a somewhat manic expression as she complained again and again, "So annoying, so annoying! I was the farthest away from A-Xun!"
As she spoke, she took out a storage bag and shook it up and down. With every shake, ferocious beast heads poured endlessly from the bag.
The heads tumbled down and piled together, gradually forming a tower.
She lifted her chin and looked expectantly at Nan Xunran. "A-Xun! Are these enough?"
Everyone knew that the rules of the trial were that whichever holy land killed the most ferocious beasts within three days would take first place.
Nan Xunran looked at the scene before him and nodded slightly.
The number of ferocious beasts Shangguan Xieyue had killed on her own was already enough for them to leave second place far behind.
Seeing Nan Xunran nod, Shangguan Xieyue instantly turned her gaze to Yan Lingxue and the others standing quietly to the side.
Her eyes held a hint of scrutiny as she asked, "A-Xun, who are these people?"
Nan Xunran said slowly, "Disciples of the Secret Sound Valley."
Shangguan Xieyue looked at them, a light seeming to flicker in her eyes. She was itching to act, as though she might make a move at any moment.
Under her gaze, panic appeared on the faces of Yan Lingxue and the others. Their bodies involuntarily tensed, and their heartstrings pulled taut.
Nan Xunran sensed her intention and said calmly, "No fighting."
At that, Shangguan Xieyue's face fell, and she answered reluctantly, "Oh, all right."
Yan Lingxue and the others immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Outside the secret realm
The elders watched the water mirror formed from water before them, which showed the scenes within the secret realm.
The surface of the water mirror was smooth as a looking glass, yet it also faintly conveyed the sense of flowing water. Its ripples flowed like poetry and painting, full of a mysterious charm.
The elders looked grave.
One of them spoke in a serious tone. "The most dangerous time is almost upon us."
Another elder sighed deeply. "Yes. Let's hope no disciples get caught in the spatial rifts."
At night, the ferocious beasts came out in full force, and with the surrounding environment constantly changing, the disciples had no time to pay attention to the spatial rifts that appeared without warning.
Night fell, and a bright moon hung high in the sky, casting a cool, holy light.
Pei Ziheng looked at Nan Xunran and asked in a low voice, "My lord, where will we rest tonight?"
Pei Zimo immediately chimed in, "Yes, my lord!"
Yan Lingxue and the others also turned, their gazes all settling on Nan Xunran.
Hearing this, Nan Xunran tapped a fingertip, and with a faint flash of light, a magical artifact appeared in midair.
It was a scroll painting, with strange light flowing across it from time to time. Faint, drifting clouds surrounded it, shifting endlessly.
Nan Xunran said calmly, "We'll rest in the Sun-Moon Diagram tonight. This diagram is unaffected by spatial rifts."
With that, his figure flickered, and he entered the scroll in an instant.
The others followed him inside.
As their figures vanished, the scroll slowly closed, finally turning into a glimmer of light and disappearing from where it had been.
Inside the Sun-Moon Diagram
Across the boundless expanse of heaven and earth, mountains rose and fell, wreathed in clouds and mist.
Deep within the mist, a palace loomed in and out of sight.
The palace floated in the air, its endless halls resembling a sea of clouds shining with strange light.
Countless stone stairways surrounded the palace, stretching straight toward the heavens like pillars that reached the sky.
The group traveled between the mountains, clouds and mist curling around them from time to time.
They stepped onto a stone stairway and slowly walked into the palace.
Nan Xunran swept his gaze over them, then gestured. "You may choose any bedroom you like, except those in the inner palace."
Then he turned and walked into the inner palace.